Suspected partial tear

[webfoot1973]

Let me give you the lowdown , my wife took my 2 year old griff up the street to play with a golden. About 30 min later she calls and tells me that tucker is limping, so I tell her to bring him back home and we will take him to the vet. The vet says that he believes my dog has a slight tear in his ACL. He also said that my dogs back legs were real straight which will give him knee problems. Then he proceeded to tell me how much knee surgery was and that maybe it was time to get a puppy!!!! can you say As+. So, he told me 2 weeks in the crate, and then slow rehab for 6 months.....No running, jumping. I now have him on joint supplements and fish oil to help in his recovery. He hasnt limped since that night, but will make a slight hop every once in a while. While I didnt feel comfortable at the first vet , I decided to opt for a second opinion . The vet also said that his legs were straight which would cause knee issues , but did not feel any swelling or any tear. He did say that there was slight discomfort in both knees. He also said that if the dog felt fine to run him and just him .

My questions now is it time to rehab his knee, run him some or just make him a house dog. I dont want him to go through a surgery for his knee. Does anyone have any experience with this that could offer any insight?

[mcbosco]

Not directly but I know many Labs and Goldens that have had the wire put in or the whole knee done. It is a 6K operation for the whole knee is these parts plus weeks and weeks and weeks of rehab and still they are not near 100%.

Don't take any chances with that dog. Walk him on the leash, crate him and be careful with slippery floors.

[Sharon]

I'd want a lot more info ( research) before I got too excited.

I have a dog with arthritic knees and hips.

Daily pain meds and he's gone like a shot.


There are no guarantees with surgery.

http://www.pethealth101.com/Working_dog ... Knee.shtml

[dog dr]

at the very least get some good x-rays before you go any further. knees and hips.

[Rich Heaton]

Dog Dr.,,,,,, always have respected your opinion. So is it true,,,, on an acl tear it doesn't matter whether whether its a partial tear or a whole tear the fix is the same? And do acl tears show up in x-rays. I have had some experience with this and they always do the "drawer" test then give me the bad news. Randy Acres has done my work (TPLO) you might have heard of him?

[dog dr]

well, if your gonna "fix" it, then yeah, to my knowledge (I'm not an orthopedist) the fix would be the same. you cant see ligaments on an x-ray, but there are some subtle signs on an x=ray that are very suggestive of an acl tear. the cranial drawer test is the gold standard, but you may not get much of a drawer with a partial tear. i jus suggested the x-rays to easily rule in or out any early age arthritis, etc. that might becausing a problem before they decide to do surgery on the acl.

[Rich Heaton]

Dog Dr.,,,, thanks for the info. But I wanted to make sure that I wasn't coming across like I was questioning your first post. I think its great we have an actual dr that gives sound advice here on the forum,,,, the only other dr that I know of here is doc favor and he's a shorttail guy,,,,, so hard to take that advice serious,,,, sides he probably out lookin for run off dogs.

[dog dr]

Rich, i didnt take it that way at all. I re-read my post, and it did sound like i was defending myself - poor choice of words on my part! i enjoy being able to help when i can. sometimes i know what i am talking about, and other times i really dont have a clue what is going on, so i dont post anything!

[jlp8cornell]

My 11 Yr old 80# hound Cross tore her CCL when she was 9 yrs. It was at first a partial tear but progressed into a full tear. My opinion- If you want your dog to live a life in the house with no hard exercise- do nothing. If not....consider surgery. I did a TPLO on her and it was the absolute best decision I could have made. She is a very active dog, even at 11+yrs. She keeps up with my 18m GSP and his littermate. She runs a good hour most good weathered days, digs, plays and lives a great life.

It is a very hard decision. There are a few options for surgery. Extra-cap suture (the original), TPLO and TTA. I had hers done at Cornell Univ at it was under $3000. (I do get a discount b/c I work here.). Diagnosing the problem is the easy part- cranial drawer test. Your dog is 2. Young. Tears will get worse if he leads an active life. If you can swing it, the expense is worth it. MY old girl is perfectly sound. No issues.

I will warn you, this is a hard rehab- meaning you need to put in the effort and not push it. Lots of exercises daily. But in the end, well worth it.